NET WORTH

James Patterson Net Worth: $430 million

Biography

According to the Forbes list of 2014, the American author James Patterson earns more than any other author in the world and has an estimated net worth of $430 million. Born on March 22, 1947 in Newburgh, New York, Patterson is a prolific author with an astounding 147 novels to his credit. He began his writing career in 1976 with his first novel “The Thomas Berryman Number,” introducing Alex Cross, a fictional forensic psychologist and the protagonist of Patterson’s bestselling Alex Cross Series. His other bestselling works include Middle School Series, Maximum Ride Series, Michael Bennett Series, and Women’s Murder Club Series.

How did James Patterson make his money?

Patterson works with a number of ghostwriters and co-authors like Andrew Gross, Ashwin Sanghi, Michael Ledwidge, and Peter De Jonge. For this, he has often been criticized by his compatriots, including Stephen King, who called Patterson, “a terrible writer, but he’s very successful.” However, Patterson remains popular with his readers. A measure of his popularity can be judged from the fact that he has sold more than 300 million copies worldwide. He also holds the Guinness Book of World Records for the most number of bestselling fiction books by a single author, a total of 76 novels.

Patterson also promotes reading among the young people with his initiative like readkiddoread.com, which helps parents and teachers find best books for their children. He also started the James Patterson Pageturner Award in 2005 for people, schools, and other institutions actively engaged in finding effective ways of spreading the excitement of reading among the young.